Pat Erickson said any fur used at her fundraiser fashion show tonight, April 27, is vintage. Anything less would be unrealistic of the time periods being represented. But don’t expect to see any fashion trends from the 1980s. Erickson isn’t ready to go that far.
Erickson is, however, more than ready to raise money to find a cure for Parkinson’s Disease, and the proceeds from her fashion show at Meridian Park Elementary will go directly to the Michael J. Fox Foundation to fund finding a cure for the disease.
Erickson, who is nicknamed “Pinky” because her favorite color is pink, said she has always had a dress up closet and loves dressing up. When efforts to organize a vintage fashion show through her church group weren’t working, a friend recommended turning her idea into a fundraiser. The result became “Pinky’s Passion for Fashion,” a vintage fashion show with a purpose.
Erickson was diagnosed with Parkinson’s almost five years ago. Before beginning work for her fashion show six months ago, many of her friends didn’t know about her diagnosis.
“I hadn’t told anyone that I have Parkinson’s Disease but my husband told me if I wanted to do something good I would have to tell people,” Erickson said. “I thought if I’m going to do it I’ll do it with a bang and not a whimper.”
She sent e-mails to everyone in her address book, informing them about her idea and discovered she was not the only one who was excited about raising money for Parkinson’s research. Among those who said they would help was a woman she first met through her involvement in the Meridian Park Elementary PTA 14 years ago. She told Erickson she has Parkinson’s too.
“I tell her it’s the wonderful, horrible thing that happened,” Erickson said. “It’s horrible that she has Parkinson’s but it was wonderful for me to find someone else who has Parkinson’s.”
This friend, Lise Husted, agreed to help Erickson with the fundraiser.
“She was so enthusiastic about this (fashion show) that I thought I would help her,” Husted said. “But Pat’s doing the majority of the work. I’m just really happy to be doing some fundraising for the cause.”
Husted said she and Erickson both choose to have positive attitudes, a choice that has helped Erickson become a beloved volunteer at Meridian Park Elementary long after her own three children were past their grade school days.
Two hundred tickets were sold for $20 a piece to tonight’s sold-out show. Her husband, Steve, and his friends built runway lights. White lights will be strung around the school’s cafeteria and round tables will be elegantly adorned with white tablecloths, pink napkins, and battery powered votives so as to not break any school rules. Kimbal Dykes will be playing classical guitar music at the beginning of the evening while the fashionably clad eat desserts.
The show itself will be a fashionable promenade through 1908 to the 1970s, with bits of historically accurate fashion advice Erickson found on the Internet, in era-specific magazines, and from a book published in 1946 titled “Oh Dear What Shall I Wear” by Helene Garnell.
Erickson will model a purple 1930s dress she found at a vintage store in Fremont while her daughter, Lindsey Cuellar, will wear a handmade dress from an original 1908 pattern. Friends who agreed to be models for an evening will be wearing an assortment of clothes including a wedding dress from the 1930s Erickson discovered on eBay, her mother’s pastel blue wedding suit from the 1950s and her own red polyester suit from the 1970s.
Most of the clothes and accessories — because a lady would never think to go out without her gloves and a hat that could add just the right touch — worn in the show are from Pat’s personal collection made up of her own items, things she made or purchased at vintage stores, Value Village, or discovered on eBay.
“I think I need to start my own chapter of eBay-oholics,” Erickson said with a laugh.
Themed baskets will also be raffled off and a scenic tour by plane will be awarded to the highest bidder in a live action. The evening will conclude with a musical performance by Cuellar, Kimbal Dykes and Steve Erickson.
After the show, Erickson’s passion for volunteering will continue. She will continue to shelve books at Meridian Park Elementary’s library and has plans to help a teacher with an upcoming puppet show. She will also anxiously await the arrival of her new granddaughter.
“What items should I keep so that my grandchildren can sell them for a fortune on eBay?” Erickson will wonder aloud at the end of her show. “I do know what one little girl will be wearing this July — lots and lots of pink.”
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